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Senate General Body Meeting #18 — Minutes (02/03/26)

Minutes / Senate · minutes · 113th session · dated February 3, 2026 · updated February 4, 2026

Filed in Drive as “Minutes of Senate GBM #18”

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This document is from a previous session and is kept for the record. It may have been amended or replaced since.

113th Johns Hopkins Student Government Association

Senate Meeting #18

February 3rd, 2026 / 07:00 PM / BSC 404

MINUTES

  1. Call to Order and Attendance (1 min)

    1. Absentees:
      1. Excused: Omotola Alaofin, Alan Perez Ariza, Zoe Gaillard, Isaac Zhang, Jibola Omotoyinbo, Ryan Garza, Vishnu Dontu
      2. Unexcused:
    2. Present

  2. Convening Business (30 min)

  3. Amendment and Approval of the Agenda (1 min)

  4. Public Input (3 min)

  5. Reports (5 min)

    1. Cabinet Reports (4 min)
      1. Student Body President - Vishnu Dontu
      2. Student Body Vice President - Omotara Tiamiyu
  6. Tara shared experience with the virtual SGA conference this past Saturday.
    1. Secretary - Sumire Sumi
      1. 2025 SGA Instagram Highlight
        1. Request for filling out form
        2. UPLOAD PHOTOS HERE
        3. Committee Chairs Room Reservation
          1. Request for advance notice when booking rooms
        4. Teams Committee Assignment
      2. Treasurer - Imad Ahmed
  7. Amy reported finance committee members must finish their budget. She reported our total budget is 300K and we split the budget in half for each semester. Any unspent money has been taken back and now we are at 60K recalls. 60% of the overall budget + 60k is what we currently have for the spring semester.
  8. Tarini asked if the 60K is from RSO or events that were put aside from last semester.
  9. Amy responded that the budget is from LEED and not SGA.
    1. Chair of Programming - Tyler Turner
  10. Looking for a J-friend promotion.
  11. Request for SGa members to attend Sunday retreat (10-5 on Sunday) made, requirement is to come dressed professionally as Will Kirk is coming to take professional headshots
  12. Theme for this retreat is “Start With Why” - leadership positions need to be filled
    1. President of the Senate - Srigouri Oruganty
      1. Cross-Institutional Advisory Committee
  1. Srigouri and other executive officers are starting to invite senators to more meetings for them to continue their initiatives.
  2. She reported Jason SS committee chair and Tanisha HSS have not sent the time for the meeting.
  3. Transportation in Hopkins: JHMI issue
    1. Better tracking on the busses, making sure the schedules are more regular in recent conditions
    2. Transportation is looking for students to make videos about using transloc and spreading awareness on how to access lesser known busses
  4. Comprehensive learner record: co-curricular activities and other achievements outside of the classroom documented as a separate ‘transcript’ type report for employers
  5. Stormwater management: flooding preventions
  1. Advisor Report (2 min)
  1. Jessica reported she will be sending out an email about Tarini’s announcement.
  2. Any programming events through SGA and Class Councils - making sure the SGA general body is supporting events as low turnout has been a recent issue.
  3. Veda raised the issue of poor communication to student body, as Instagram is SGA’s main mode of communication
  4. The assistant director of student news letter can also help out by sending announcements about school events.
  5. Jazzlyn asked if the Judiciary report will be shared with RSO senators. Refusal due to a lack of a ‘united front’ within the Judiciary.
  6. Motion to add Judiciary report to the agenda under Non-Legislative Business
  7. Non-Legislative Business (40 min)
    1. Roberts Rules Presentation - Chair Jaden
      1. Used for formal meetings outside of SGA.supposed to make meetings run smoothly in professional settings
      2. Jaden outlined different types of motions: privileged motions, subsidiary motions, incidental motions, main motions.
      3. Privileged motions: motion to adjourn, for a ____ recess, to suspend rules, to address the Senate
      4. Subsidiary motions: to vote, for a moderates caucus, to extend ___ by __, to end __ by ___, to amend ___ by : change item, to discharge (needs supermajority)
      5. Incidental: point of order, point of information
      6. Types of voting commonly used within SGA: voice vote, roll call vote, closed ballot
      7. Chair’s powers: authority to make agenda and follow it, to recognize motions (but not ignore them), doesn’t need a vote to advance agenda, authority to make sure Senators follow general rules
      8. Key things: many motions to withdraw require a second, can withdraw any motion made at any time, don’t be too strict on following exact reading
    2. Reading/Discussion of Opinion on Morris v. SGA - Chair Jazzlyn
      1. Disclaimer: is on the 122th SGA, which is thus not related to the 113th SGA. There is nothing the current SGA can do about the results of the opinion.
      2. Felix stated that as part of the ruling they have the power to mandate attendance records on rolling bases including GBM and committee meetings.
      3. Jaden clarified that roll call votes are when every single person’s vote is counted.
      4. Voice vote clarification by Jaden: very hard to document who said what, as it is purely auditory based
      5. Distinction for voice vote vs roll call vote request made within the SGA constitution.
      6. Jaden also emphasized the reason behind voice votes are not recorded is because Roberts Roll from Congress has that unless there is any objection which is expressed with “Nay” it is assumed that any silence votes are in agreement.
      7. Jazzlyn explained the case. Jackson who was a part of SGA before lost access to SGA documents upon resignation. He claimed improvements on transparency.
      8. Main points
        1. 112th failed to keep meeting minutes up to date and public. Current 113th meeting minutes are publicly available but the committee minutes are not. Request for committee chairs to keep accurate meeting minutes made. Within 48 hours of meeting minutes should be updated to the website.
        2. For any meetings date, time, location should be made public for the sake of the general student body.
        3. Motion for 5-min Q & A made, Kirsten and Jaden opposed. Majority in agreement.
        4. Request to add the judiciary portion to SGA’s website.
        5. Veda raised the issue about revealing the reason as to why a closed meeting was closed on Judiciary writ. It was clarified that the reasoning for closed meetings is disclosed in written form, but not announced for the sake of individual privacy.
    3. Ice Town Hall - Chair Jazzlyn
  8. Jazzlyn presented her Town Hall initiative regarding ICE activities. This is an invitation to the town hall that will be held on February 17th. This is an opportunity for students to share and inform about this pressing matter. The reason why RSO is hosting is because they will be sending out to all SGA related RSOs that their organizations will be invited to the town hall. There was a list initially but now it will be sent out to all affiliates. As SGA we can not ask admin to conflict with ICE. She shared SGA Resolution Regarding ICE. Motion for 10 minutes moderated caucus was passed.
  9. Issue raised on Hopkins Police Officers portions of the writ. Concern on discrepancy between general student opinion and content of writ raised.
  10. Jazzlyn responded she agreed to remove the section regarding the matter. She also clarified this resolution is a template for SGA to revise.
  11. Town hall: issue on seating/room capacity concern raised.
  12. Question on SGA GBM for Town Hall time conflict: there will most likely be no meeting on the day, however it depends on the time taken on Town Hall (which is the priority).
  13. Request to consider adding existing contracts Johns Hopkins currently has with ICE in the writ.

  14. First Reading (30 min)

    1. RSO Finance Workshop - Chair Amy
  15. Amy presented a budget allocation system where SGA approves every budget request from RSOs. The process is convoluted which is done by both finance committees and LEED offices. To fix the problem they will host a Finance workshop available for the public to talk about RSO finance works and how RSOs can handle finance. This opportunity will be also utilized to gather surveys. Intended outcomes are to reduce inquiries and collect feedback from RSOs. To increase the attendance, incentive is given for each organization who shows up to the workshop to receive $50 for their organization. They are expecting around 50 organizations out of 190 organizations to attend.
  16. Motion for 5 minutes moderated caucus has been passed.
  17. Rachel asked if there will be multiple sessions.
  18. Amy responded that Branden (treasure from last year) put out multiple ones but current members do not have a good perception of how the workshop should be. She addressed that this session will be held once to test out.
  19. Question on how club budgets were passed raised: usually through email, SGA has been waiting on admin to assist with sending out emails.
  20. Motion to discharge to second meeting was passed.
  21. Now in finance committee reading.
    1. Action Items Amendment - Chair Jazzlyn
      1. Jazzlyn presented the bill on action item amendment. It states that each bill will be sent out to the student body with survey asking for their opinion that will be due 1 week from the day the bill is presented.
      2. Only exclusion is sickness or physical inability. Request for reasonable deadlines for self made. Additional request for action items to move through SGA in a smooth manner (less stalling)
      3. Motion to refer to IA passed
    2. Office Hours Act - Senator Seán
      1. Moved to the last item on First Reading.
      2. How to implement office hours/Town Hall. First bill: everyone in committee will be required to host a certain number of office hours (2 TH per semester, excluding finance). Second bill: can work on a volunteer basis, not as a requirement. Senators can hold office hours independently. Only voting on the bill in First Reading. The main difference between bills is that the second (amended bill) makes executive ORGANIZE office hours, which would then ideally be passed on to individual senators.
      3. Concern raised on IA being opposed to the bill being immediately passed to Second Reading.
      4. Motion for 5 min Q & A passed.
        1. The new bill is more flexible, and can be adjusted throughout the semester.
        2. Paul stated since this is a low commitment this is doable for senators and this can be piloted as a test run.
        3. Sean clarified that the bill states the executive board is not required to ensure that the OH happens.
        4. Omotara stated we should have this bill reviewed by senators at home so it can be more productive. No discussion at the next GBM on this bill and goes straight to Second Reading.
        5. If no one is coming to office hours, what is the point of creating a new bill mandating office hours 3 weeks in a row. Compromise: to strike down first bill and then move on with the second bill for the sake of time.
        6. Motion to move bill to First Reading to 2/10 GBM. Motion slashed, additional motion to move bill to Second Reading today. Second motion passed.
        7. First bill did not pass.
        8. Motion to add second bill to Second Reading of next GBM. Rebecca, Kirsten opposed. Motion passed.
        9. Motion to roll call vote failed.

Second Reading (10 min)

  1. Office Hours Act - Senator Seán
    1. Motion to move this to the next GBM.
  1. Cohort Time (30 min)
    1. Initiatives

Prospective Legislation & Announcements (5 min)

Adjournment (Estimated 9:00 PM)

Time-length and adjournment estimates are provided for the benefit of guests at Senate meetings. However, SGA meetings are always slated to extend until 9:00 PM and SGA members are expected to remain in the Senate chamber until official adjournment by motion, whether before or after the adjournment estimate.